Automotive boots clamps are well know in the industry. Boot clamps are used to seal rubber boots which protect constant velocity (CV) joints used in front wheel drive vehicles. Such boots clamps are described in commonly owned U. S. Pat. No. 5,105,509 (the "Lilley Clamp").
The Lilley Clamp has a pair of outwardly extending hooks on the lapped end of the clamp and a plurality of hook apertures having a tab on the lapping end. When the clamp ear is crimped, the tabs deform absorbing the clamping forces and interlocking with the hooks for interlocking the lapping end to the lapped end.
Boot clamps are destroyed during the repair or rebuilding of the CV joints. As a result, a strong after market has developed to supply parts, including boot clamps, for the repair and rebuilding of CV joints.
It is very common for kits to include the necessary parts for a rebuild of a CV joint. The kit will include two boot clamps for each boot to be replaced. For each CV joint, the boot has one wide end and one narrow end. Accordingly, the two boot clamps must be two different sizes, which are specified by the manufacturer. If the clamps which are included in the kit are too large or too small, then the CV joint cannot be properly re-assembled.
The automotive industry normally operates to a 97.3% assurance level. Even with this confidence level, there is a significant number of occurences where a CV joint rebuild kit will be provided with boot clamps which are not properly sized so that the rebuild job cannot be completed until another pair of clamps is re-ordered and delivered, delaying the return of the vehicle to the owner. The inconvenience for the vehicle owner cannot be measured.
The conventional boot clamp, such as the Lilley Clamp, cannot simply be made larger to accomodate a larger range of sizes. When such a clamp is used on smaller diameter sizes, a long tail of excess strapping is left presenting a danger to the boot. Even if the tail is cut off, the resulting sharp comers could eventually damage the boot.
Initially, it was believed that it was not possible to reverse the interlock of the conventional clamp and position the hooks on the lapping end and the apertures on the lapped end. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,155, the hooks of the boot clamp are directed inwardly. On crimping the ear, the inwardly extending hooks may penetrate into the rubber boot causing damage to the boot. Unfortunately, the damage cannot be detected for several months after the repair.